“For
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God,
the Lord Himself will descend from heaven, and those who died in Christ
will rise first. Afterward we the living who remain, will be caught up
along with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we
shall ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

"Take notice, I am telling you a
secret. We shall not all die but we shall all be changed, in a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet call. For the trumpet
will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall
all be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable,
and this mortal must put on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).

The
consensus of thought concerning the mechanics of the rapture in the
Christian community holds that believers will disappear instantaneously
from the earth, in a moment of time. In one instant we will be present
on the earth and in the next instant we will be gone. In one instant
Christians will be driving cars, flying airplanes, performing surgery,
working on computers, in other words transacting life. In the next
instant under this scenario cars will go careening around
uncontrollably, planes will drop out of the sky and millions of people
will “instantaneously in a moment of time” disappear without a trace.

The
verses quoted above do not say that we will disappear from sight
“instantaneously” in the “twinkling of an eye”. The scriptures
state that we will be CHANGED in the twinkling of an eye and that we
will be “caught up along with them (the dead in Christ) in the clouds,
to meet the Lord in the air”. The change we go through is a change from
the perishable to the imperishable, from mortal to immortal. Now the
phrase “caught up” is translated from “harpazo” which means; catch up,
take by force, catch away, pluck, pull, to seize and carry off by
force, to snatch out or away. While these meanings imply some amount of
suddenness, they don’t indicate an instantaneous event. To be “caught
up” could be an observable event. To snatch something out of the way is
a quick happening event but it is an observable event.

What
does the bible have to say about the process of how others have been
taken from this earth to meet the Lord?

Enoch-
In Genesis 5:24 it says that “Enoch walked with God and he was not, for
God took him”.

·There is no indication of how God took him, but Enoch didn’t
die. In Hebrews 11:8 it states that “By faith Enoch was taken up, so
that he did not see death, and was not found because God took him up,
for before God took him up, so it is recorded, he was pleasing to God.”

Elijah-
In 2 Kings 2:11 it says, “and it came to pass, as they still went on,
and talked, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses
of fire, and parted them both asunder, and Elijah went up by a
whirlwind into heaven”.

·This event was witnessed by others and was not a secret
event. This event occurred in the presence of Elisha and other prophets
who were told in advance (by God) the specific date that Elijah would
be taken by God (2 Kings 2:5). There is no indication as to the speed
of the ascension, but it was slow enough to be observed. Elijah did not
die and there is no indication that he was changed in any way.

Jesus-
“So after the Lord had talked with them, He was received up into heaven
and sat at the right hand of God”, (Luke 16:19). “While He blessed them
He was parted from them and taken up into heaven”, (Mark 24:52). “He
was taken up and a cloud carried Him up from their view”, (Acts 1:9).

·Jesus died and was resurrected. Jesus spent 40 days with His
followers preparing them before He departed. This ascension event did
not take place in secret. There is no indication as to the exact speed
that Jesus ascended, but it appears that it was not in a moment of time
as those present watched Him ascend.

John
the Revelator- At Revelation 4:1 John is commanded by Jesus to
“COME UP HERE”.

·There are no other details of the event.

Two
Witnesses- “They two heard a loud voice calling to them from
heaven, “COME UP HERE”. And they ascended into heaven in a cloud while
their enemies saw them” (Revelation 11:12).

·The two witnesses were killed 3 days earlier
and had just been resurrected. This ascension event did not occur in
secret. There is no indication as to the exact speed that the two
witnesses ascended but it was slow enough for their enemies to view it
and comprehend what happened.

From
the above we know the following:

1.Enoch was taken by God in an unknown
manner, although the Bible states he was taken “up”.

2.Elijah was taken up by God in a
whirlwind, in the presence of others who were told in advance that God
would take Elijah on a specific date. Elijah had not previously died.

3.Jesus ascended in a cloud in the
presence of other believers, there is no indication that any unbeliever
observed the event. Jesus had previously died. Jesus spent 40
days with His followers preparing them before He left.

4.John the Revelator- In Revelation 4:1
John is commanded to “Come up here and I will show you what must take
place hereafter”. John had just received a vision on earth concerning
the Church. When Jesus says “I will show what must take place
hereafter”, the hereafter refers to “after” the age of the church has
been completed. Nothing that Jesus reveals to John after this verse
(Revelation 4:1) refers to the church. John then in heaven received a
stunning vision of the future set in the end times. There are no
details as to how he was transported or if there were witnesses. John
had not previously died.

5.The Two Witnesses received a command
from heaven to “come up here” and ascended in a cloud in the presence
of others, specifically their enemies. The two witnesses had previously
died.

6.There is no indication that any of these
events were transacted in a moment of time, and other than Enoch and
John where the details of the event are not revealed to us, in the
three other instances there were observers who witnessed the
ascensions.

Further
we can observe that:

1.Those who died and received an
imperishable body ascended into heaven in a cloud.

2.At least in one case believers knew the
exact date that God was going to act.

3.In two cases a direct command was
received to “come up here” and in the case of Jesus He would not need
to issue a command to Himself.

Noah
and the Ark; A Type of Rapture

Genesis
chapters 6 through 8 depict the events of Noah’s day when he was warned
of the impending flood and the instructions God gave to him save
himself and his family from judgment. We observe the following:

God
established a period of time before judgment to allow for repentance.

“My
Spirit shall not forever remain in man since he has gone astray. He is
flesh. I will allow him another 120 years”, (Genesis 6:3.)

God
warned Noah about what He was going to do.

“God
said to Noah, I see the end of humanity, for through them the earth is
filled with the lust for power. Take notice, I am about to destroy them
and the earth with them. Make you an ark…”, (Genesis 6:13-14).

God
commanded Noah to:

“Come
into the ark, you and your family”, (Genesis 7:1).

God
gave Noah a seven day warning for final preparations.

“For
after seven more days I will make it rain on the earth for 40 days and
nights”, (Genesis 7:4).

On the very date the flood began, Noah and his
family boarded the ark.

“In
Noah’s 600th year, the seventeenth day of the second month,
that very day the fountains of the deep broke through” (Genesis 7:11).

“This
is the date on which Noah, Shem, Ham, Japheth, his son’s, also Noah’s
wife and the three wives of his sons along with them boarded the ark”,
(Genesis 7:13).

Comment:
God gave Noah the command to “Come into the ark”. This was followed by
a revelation (warning) that in seven days judgment would begin. Noah
used that time to perform final preparations. They boarded the ark on
the day that judgment began.

God
closed the door.

“Then
the Lord closed the entrance behind him”, (Genesis 7:16).

The
ark rose above the ground.

“The
waters mounted and lifted the ark so that it rose from the ground”,
(Genesis 7:17).

Judgment
occurred on the earth.

“He
destroyed from the face of the earth every existing thing from man to
beast”, (Genesis 7:23).

We
can speculate that as the flood developed that the population came to
understand their situation and pleaded with Noah to open the door. Noah
could not open the door, for God had closed it. We can speculate that
there was weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Parable
of the Ten Virgins; Be Prepared for the Rapture

The
Parable of the ten virgins is a parable that concerns the rapture. The
parable is presented at Matthew 25:1-13:

Mat 25:1 "Then the kingdom of heaven will be
comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet
the bridegroom.
Mat 25:2 "Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent.
Mat 25:3 "For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with
them,
Mat 25:4 but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.
Mat 25:5 "Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy
and began to sleep.
Mat 25:6 "But at midnight there was a shout, 'Behold, the bridegroom ! Come out to meet him.'
Mat 25:7 "Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
Mat 25:8 "The foolish said to the prudent, 'Give us some of your oil,
for our lamps are going out.'
Mat 25:9 "But the prudent answered, 'No, there will not be enough for
us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.'
Mat 25:10 "And while they were going away to make the purchase, the
bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the
wedding feast; and the door was shut.
Mat 25:11 "Later the other virgins also came, saying, 'Lord, lord, open
up for us.'
Mat 25:12 "But he answered, 'Truly I say to you, I do not know you.'
Mat 25:13 "Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the
hour.

The ten virgins are Christians; the five
prudent ones are true born again Christians that have the Holy Spirit
(oil) in their lives and the five foolish ones are nominal Christians
who are not born again (not saved) because they do not have the Holy
Spirit (oil) in their lives.

The five who have the oil (are born again) will
have the following characteristic among others; they have a
personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The five who have not the oil and thus are not
saved will have the following characteristics; they intellectually
believe in Jesus but they have no personal relationship with Jesus,
they do not study or read the bible, they do not believe that the bible
is the inerrant word of God, they are embarrassed by “born again”
Christians, they are not necessarily offended by sin- “sex between
consenting adults is a private matter”, “abortion is a woman’s
choice…hey its her body”. Because they don’t read/believe the bible
they don’t know what God has said.

The bridegroom is Jesus. And just like Jesus He
is taking his time in coming as He promised. He is taking His time
because He does not desire that anyone should participate in the
Tribulation. He is giving us time to repent (get some oil).

The bridegroom (Jesus) eventually comes but his
bride (Christians) is dozing offwaiting
for Him. The Bridegroom comes when it is exceedingly dark at mid-night
(sin filled world in spiritual darkness).

There is a shout and a command is given, “Come
out to meet Him”.

Only those with the oil (Holy Spirit) will be
able to see their way through the darkness to find the bridegroom. The
five foolish virgins are witnesses to the fact that the five prudent
virgins were taken by the bridegroom.

The five foolish virgins ask the five prudent
virgins for some oil. The five prudent virgins tell them to go buy some
for themselves.

Those five virginswith
the oil join the Bridegroom. The door is then shut.

Although the five foolish virgins recognize
their error and do obtain oil it is too late.

Based on the above studies, we observe from the
word of God concerning those previously taken by God that:

There were witnesses-

In the case of Elijah there were witnesses, in
the case of Jesus there were witnesses, in the case of the Two
Witnesses there were witnesses, in the case of Noah there were
witnesses, in the case of the five prudentvirgins
there were witnesses. Other than Enoch and John in each case in the
bible when a person was taken by God there were witnesses. These events
did not take place in secret.

The events did not happen “in a
moment of time” the events were visually observed-

Elijah was taken in a whirlwind, Jesus ascended
in a cloud, the Two Witnesses ascended in a cloud, Noah ascended in a
ark as the water rose, the five prudent virgins had time to tell the
foolish virgins to “go buy some oil”.

The command to “COME” is common-

The Two Witnesses were commanded to “COME UP
HERE”, Noah was commanded to “COME INTO THE ARK”, the ten virgins were
commanded to “COME OUT TO MEET HIM”, John was commanded to “COME UP
HERE”.

Clouds are used as a vehicle- In the
two cases where the individuals were given imperishable bodies they
ascended on a cloud- Jesus ascended on a cloud, the two witnesses
ascended on a cloud.

When the command “COME” is made the
opportunity to participate is closed- in the case of Noah no one
else was allowed into the ark, in the case of the Two Witnesses no
others were involved, in the case of the ten virgins only those with
oil (saved) when the command is given were able to participate, the
door was closed.

Knowledge of the exact date that God is
going to act- In the case of Elijah and NoahGod revealed
theexact date He was going to take action. However, in both
these cases it appears that the revelation was made within days of His
action. In the case of the ten virgins it appears that they were
expecting the bridegroom within a certain day.

Applying the above observations to the
anticipated rapture there is another possible scenario for the event:

1.The command, “COME UP HERE” will be
given. The voice will be recognized by Christ’s followers, “My sheep
hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto
them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man
pluck them out of My hand”(John 10:27-28). The word “pluck” is
translated from “harpazo” which was discussed above.

2.Our bodies will be changed from
perishable to imperishable (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).

3.We will be given some type of advance
warning as to the exact timing of our departure. Becausethose who died in Christarise
first (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) it appears that there is some other
communication so there is an orderly process. The dead in Christ then
arise to meet Jesus in the air first. We follow after a brief time of
preparation.

Comment: When Noah was given the command to
enter the ark, he and his family did not actually board the ark until
seven days later, the exact date that judgment began.

4.We will be given a brief period of time
(seven days like Noah?) to prepare, to warn others, to prepare for our
animals, to assist those who afterwards are saved but will be left
behind to deal withthe tribulation. We
will not need sleep and will work tirelessly since we have imperishable
bodies.

5.We will have a final witnessing
opportunity and many will get saved, but too late for this rapture.
They will not be able to participate because they do not have
imperishable bodies.

6.We will ascend in a cloud in view of all.

7.There will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth and many will cry out to the Lord as we are ascending, but this
door is closed.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. And if
anyone hears my voice and opens the door I shall come in to him and
dine with him and he with Me”, (Revelation 3:20).